


Them

by Szim



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Bunk bed, Darkness, M/M, Roommates, Shiratorizawa, thiller
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:13:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27160966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Szim/pseuds/Szim
Summary: Ushijima Wakatoshi's life was normal, just as he envisioned... until he meets someone who turn this normalcy upside down.
Relationships: Tendou Satori/Ushijima Wakatoshi
Comments: 4
Kudos: 34





	Them

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [Ők](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24984643) by [Szim](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Szim/pseuds/Szim). 



> One of my favourite works of mine are somehow always ushitens... how and why even, but anyways, this story is finally in english too, so enjoy it to your heart's content!

Ushijima’s life was always simple, normal – he did what he had to, nothing more, nothing less. He worked hard, did a sport on a high level, trained his mind as well as his body, so he wasn’t that surprised when he was informed that he got accepted into that elite school where he wanted to go.

This was a part of his normal life. Which life did a quick flip once he entered his assigned room, which he shared with a roommate from the same year.

Inside, it was dark, so he tapped around for the light switch, then turned the light on, only to have a sharp voice yell at him.

“Turn it off!” which surprised him enough to obey out of instinct. Although, he did not understand the reason for it, as it was really difficult to get around in the dark room, especially that he wanted to do this for the first time.

“But I can’t see,” he said, straight-forward as always.

“But they can’t see either” came the reply, confusing Ushijima even more, if that was possible.

“Who?” he asked back, even though he was not moved by this dramatic interlude. He just wanted to pack out from his suitcase in his own room, was this that big of a wish?

“They…” came the irritated reply this time, which tone indicated clearly that he was less because he did not understand it right away, which sent more question marks dancing around Ushijima’s head.

Eventually, he sighed, then started to tap out his way to the bunk bed, where he got out of his shoes, and started his way again, this time to locate his wardrobe. His eyes started to get used to the deep darkness, so, even if he didn’t see, as he was a human and humans weren’t made to see in the dark, he could make out enough of the room to know where not to step and hit himself in a wall or some other hard surface.

“What is your name?” he asked in the end, once he successfully managed to find the searched object, and after some fumbling he packed in, out of his suitcase.

“Who asks?” came the reply, the voice rang coldly, but not unfriendly, which was a pretty weird and rare combo, well, as far as Ushijima’s experiences went.

“Me, your roommate. Or do you see anyone else here too?” he asked back, getting bored of this whole ordeal.

“Well, the fact that you cannot see something does not mean that it isn’t there... “ came the almost comically serious reply, which did strange things to Ushijima. “Also in this darkness I cannot see you either. Recalling your earlier thought track… do I imagine you as well?” added the voice, as an afterthought, which was too abstract to Ushijima.

“Whatever, the point is, that I am Ushijima Wakatoshi, your roommate. What is your name?” Ushijima chose the easiest solution, which was also the most practical – simply ignoring those details which he couldn’t understand and ask what he did want to know. In this case, his roommate’s name.

“Tendou. Tendou Satori” replied the voice again, Tendou Satori’s voice, as it turned out.

“Tendou, why are we sitting in the dark?” Ushijima posed his next question.

“Of course the reason is to not let  _ them  _ find us, as I already stated it. Also, aren’t you still standing? I didn’t hear your steps back to the bed.” The voice, that voice, which his vision-revoked brain sucked into itself, smiled. He did not know how or why, but he was sure in this, he felt it, almost saw. Or was his brain imagining things because it had too much free time for that, as he couldn’t see the other’s face?

“This was a…. ah, whatever. Who are they?” he asked, still trying to stick with his famous self-restraint, which started to be a more difficult task than it usually was. This fact was what especially surprised him, as he was priding himself in this, taking pride in his calm and straightforward nature.

“You really don’t know.” This wasn’t a question but a statement, so Ushijima didn’t know how he should react to it. He indeed did not know what were the identity of this mysterious “ _ them _ ”.

Really did not. But this time he embraced the quiet, as he was tired because of the travelling, so he let his roommate do whatever he wished this day, and quietly he tapped out his way back to the bunk bed, s laid down on the bottom one, because he knew that the other boy was on the top one, his voice’s direction said this clearly. After a silent sigh he closed his eyes, and let the darkness help him fall asleep.

*

Despite his expectations and determinations, his roommate was adamant about always being in the dark, so Ushijima was in dark too along with him, although sometimes he tried to voice his opinion and ask if this was really necessary and why. The reply he got was always the same.  _ Them _ . 

His world was thus upside down; his roommate with this mysterious darkness obsession, and the whole situation’s absurdness and abnormality was the total opposite of Ushijima’s life up until now, and his life’s aspects that remained normal: classes and training.

And it was not as if he didn’t see his roommate under light… in fact, he did, when they were on volleyball practise. The boy was tall, still a bit shorter than him though, his hair was red, and his eyes… those eyes were talking such things, such knowledge that would’ve made most of the people happily give up their own life, but Tendou did not. Tendou just smiled, while his eyes remained cold. This opposition was in parallel perfectly with Ushijima’s time he spent in their shared room with him, which could be described by darkness, and everything else outside of that room could be described by light…

Actually, he got used to this too, after a few weeks, after all nobody could hold that against Ushijima that he wasn’t flexible and adaptable, but still, he wanted to know the reason for it at least, so he continued to ask occasionally.

  
  


*

  
  


Thus happened one day, when Ushijima was watching a previous match on his phone, it caught him suddenly and unprepared that the door was slammed and a hand snatched his phone from his hands, covered it, so the room was once again in complete darkness.

“Why did you do this?” he asked, this time irritated. He just wanted to watch a match! He wasn’t allowed to do this either?

“ _ Them _ !” came the reply, as always, which made Tendou sound like a broken record…

“Yes, always  _ them _ , but who are they exactly and why don’t they allow me to watch my phone?” Ushijima retorted, not sticking to his usual neutral humming, that he usually did when he couldn’t reply with anything else. But not today. Today, he decided, he would get answers. Come rain or shine, even  _ they  _ couldn’t stand in his way.

“Ah, so you want to know?” drawled Tendou, his voice deeper than ever before. Ushijima involuntarily shivered hearing it.   
“Yes,” he replied, his tone so uncharacteristically quiet that it surprised even him too.

Tendou illuminated his face using the mobile’s flashlight, unwittingly imitating the classic horror trope. Thus, Ushijima got the chance for the first time to see his roommate in their shared room. At first he noticed the curve of his lips, a small half-smile that played on them, then his gaze went up to his eyes, those soul-seeing cold eyes, s he couldn’t not see the boy’s flagrant red mop of hair, which, due to the light from down, painted bizarre and intricate disfigured shadows on the walls surrounding them.

“So you want to know. But don’t complain that I didn’t warn you,” started talking Tendou, to which Ushijima’s gaze returned to his lips, almost enraptured in their moves. It was a very new experience to finally match a face and mimics to the so familiar voice. Ushijima nearly forgot why this whole ordeal started.

“The light is dangerous. Light gives way to shadows. And the shadows are… dangerous.” Tendou was talking slowly, as if afraid of someone listening to what he was saying, and using it against him… these words of his slowly but surely reached Ushijima’s conscious. “So to avoid the shadows, I keep utter darkness when I am able to, because in complete darkness there are no shadows as they are derivatives of light… The darkness surrounds me, hugging me softly, kindly and safely.

After hearing these serious words, Ushijima was still none the wiser, he only knew that Tendou was afraid. But of what?  _...of whom? _

“Who are  _ they _ ?” Ushijima asked in the end, gently, because he didn’t want to scare away his roommate now that he started to open up.

“Don’t you understand?” Tendou started laughing bitterly, insanely. “ _ They _ are the shadows! They are waiting for you to stay alone to eat you and replace you!”


End file.
